The Trump administration on Monday asked Washington state to set aside any ballots received from more than 400 people it suspects registered to vote without U.S. citizenship.1
In a letter to the Washington Secretary of State's Office, the Justice Department said it had identified 1,500 votes cast by the over 400 people in prior elections. It asked the state to set aside any ballots those people might cast in next month's midterm until state officials can confirm they are legally eligible to vote. Washington has more than 5 million registered voters.1
Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd addressed the request at a news conference. "We are asking the state to set aside those ballots until we can confirm they are legal voters," Floyd said.1
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs was reviewing the administration's demand, and his office noted that it had received about 60 subpoenas from the Justice Department since last month seeking information about voters.1
In an emailed statement, Hobbs said: "We take our responsibility to protect voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process." He added: "We see what's happening in California and don't want Washingtonians to be harassed."1
The request in Washington is similar to a Justice Department attempt to require California to sequester mail ballots from up to 20,000 people the federal government suspects may not be citizens. California has challenged that effort. During rare Sunday arguments, a panel of federal appellate judges questioned the timing, constitutionality and authority of the Justice Department's demand. The Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures the power to set the time, place and manner of congressional elections.1
In Los Angeles County, Assistant Registrar-Recorder Monica Flores said in a court filing that her staff went through a sample of 200 records from the Trump administration's list. They found canceled or inactive registrations, people with no voting history and voters who appeared to have been born in the United States.1
Noncitizen voting is exceptionally rare, and investigations into earlier allegations have revealed far fewer instances than the administration has claimed. In Nevada, the administration alleged there were 1,500 potential noncitizen voters on the rolls, but subsequent investigation found zero.1
In Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, the county Recorder, who is a Trump supporter, announced there were 207 possible noncitizens on the county's rolls. The Republican County Attorney determined there were actually eight.1
The Justice Department told Washington it anticipates sending the state an additional list of people it suspects are not citizens before Election Day. It also noted that some of the people it suspects registered without citizenship may have since become naturalized.1
